A transgender woman who police said suffered a fractured jaw and concussion during an attack on the streets of Bushwick over the weekend has opened up about the ordeal, saying it was “uncalled for,” but she is determined to remain resilient.
Jasmine Infiniti, 33, and two friends had left Happyfun Hideaway on Myrtle Avenue in Bushwick just before 1:45 a.m. on Saturday when they walked past a group of people standing outside of a liquor store on Bushwick Avenue, near Flushing Avenue, according to police and Infiniti.
The group, which consisted of five men and one woman, began to harass the women, calling them derogatory names and referring to them as “transformers,” police said.
“It makes me very angry,” looking back on what happened, Infiniti said during a phone interview from her hospital bed at Bellevue Medical Center. “We were just walking by, three trans women minding our own business.”
Infiniti, who grew up in the Bronx but lives in Oakland, California, said that after enduring so much taunting as a transgender woman, she felt the need to respond.
“I’ve suffered a lot in my 10 years as a trans woman and dealt with a lot of stereotyping,” she said. “I felt like I’ve reached a certain point in my life where things like this shouldn’t happen, but they still do.”
But when Infiniti decided to stand her ground and go inside the liquor store “to prove a point” to her harassers, she said she was refused service and pushed out of the store.
The confrontation took a violent turn after Infiniti said she began to take pictures of the store and her alleged harassers.
“That’s when someone came and smacked the phone out of my hand,” she said.
When her friend London Jade came to her defense, Infiniti said chaos erupted.
“I had gotten punched in the face…the back of the head,” Infiniti said. “One man hauled off and hit me so hard in the face, in the jaw, that I started bleeding and spitting blood.”
Infiniti and Jade, 22, were both injured in the attack and taken to Bellevue Hospital Center after returning to Manhattan and reporting the incident to police. Their other friend, who Infiniti declined to identify but said she is also transgender, was not injured.
Jade was treated for a slash wound to her leg and released from the hospital, police said. She has since returned to Miami where she lives, according to her Facebook page.
“As I ran, this chick sliced the back of my leg and took my sandals which fell off while I dipped. What scares me the most is, I was beyond WASTED and blacking out while me and my trans mother Jasmine Infiniti are being attacked and beat on,” Jade wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday. “They could’ve killed us … all we were doing was walking and minding our business, next thing I know we in the hospital for hours (Jasmine will be there a week) barely receiving medical attention — and being told Jasmine has to have her jaw wired.”
Infiniti said that unlike Jade and her other friend, she only had four drinks before the incident and that her alcohol consumption had nothing to do with her decision to respond to the group.
She is scheduled to have surgery on Thursday to fix her jaw and is expected to remain in the hospital for weeks.
“I’ve never had surgery so this is terrifying,” Infiniti said, adding that her jaw will have to be wired shut. “I’m trying to be positive but I’m just really afraid.”
But Infiniti is not on the road to recovery alone: “If it wasn’t for my community and my current and burgeoning career as a DJ, I don’t think I would have the support necessary to make it. I’ve been very lucky and have received so much support and love.”
A friend has also set up an online fundraiser to help Infiniti and Jade deal with medical expenses.
“And that is one of the many amazing things I can’t believe has happened,” Infiniti said of the fundraiser. “I’m very grateful and, of course, London is as well. It’s amazing.”
Police said they’re investigating the attack as a possible hate crime.
“Their need to say something to me speaks more volumes of their own insecurities than of mine,” Infiniti said of her attackers. “And clearly they know nothing about me to think that my life doesn’t have as much value.”
So far, no arrests have been made.
